Once Upon a Time in Florida

All characters engaging in sexual relationships or activities are 18 years old or older.

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Part 4

Chapter 5: The Cookout

Elise met Javi at her house at noon as planned. She wore the outfit that brought her and her granddaughter together the night before. If her reaction to it was any indication, she suspected Javi might like it as well.

Javi drove to Elise's house and was stopped at the community's gated entrance. He gave his name to the uniformed guard and after the guy found his name on the list, was allowed to drive through. What the hell kind of place was this?

He drove past large expensive houses with sprawling manicured lawns, one after another, until he found her house.

He pulled into the wide driveway and parked next to her silver BMW. Her house was obviously in the rich part of town and it was enormous. What had he gotten himself into? Was he fated to be a rich cougar's pet boy-toy?

He sat in his car and looked around. There was a manmade lake with a fancy fountain spraying sudden jets of water 50 yards behind her house. The sidewalks were empty and there was no traffic on the street.

He grabbed a plastic-wrapped bouquet of flowers and walked nervously to the enormous covered porch. The door opened just as he raised his hand to knock.

Thoughts and uncertainty flew from his head as soon as his eyes fell on her.

Elise stood braless in a white, low plunging, tight-fitting knee length dress with oval cutaways at her ribs and waist. His jaw dropped and he stood there in shock, unable to move. She looked breathtaking.

The tight dress squeezed her huge breasts together and was see through enough for him to make out her areolas and nipples which dented the thin material outward enticingly. She had a pair of sexy high heel shoes on her dainty feet and wore no hose, though he could vaguely see a pair of white lace panties under her dress.

"Come on in, Javi," she said with a little smirk of satisfaction on her face at his reaction and motioned him inside.

He stepped in the door and turned to face her as she shut it.

"You look... unbelievable," he whispered, flowers forgotten in his hands. "And your hair..."

He reached out and sank his fingers into her wavy white hair. It looked so much different than before. The side-swept long bangs, loose waves, and subtle layers made her face seem leaner.

His hungry gaze swept over her slowly, lingering here and there.

Elise was gratified by his reaction, it was just what she'd hoped for, and he'd noticed her hair too.

She pointed at his hands which were clutching a bouquet of colorful flowers.

"Are those for me?" she asked, cocking out a wide round hip and smiling widely at him.

She took the offered flowers and turned to walk to the kitchen, intent on getting something to put them in.

She could sense him close behind and squeaked when his hands gripped her waist, turned her to him and then his lips were on hers.

He pulled the flowers from her hands and dropped them on the floor.

He pulled away from her after a wild minute.

"Where's your bedroom?" he graveled through a dry throat.

She pointed and he picked her up and carried her unresisting, his eyes glued to hers, barely noticing his surroundings.

When he reached her bed he gently laid her on it and spent the next two hours making passionate love to her, using all the tricks she'd taught him and driving her to orgasm again and again and again, until she lay limp and spent. She was utterly exhausted and barely able to move.

The tight white dress lay discarded on the floor along with the white lace panties he'd taken off her and brought to his nose then tossed over his shoulder. The white high heels stayed on her feet for a few minutes before he took them gently off her feet and tossed them away too.

He came inside her three times. He'd stayed hard after cumming inside her the first time, but after he came the second time, they'd had to wait about five minutes before he could go again. He lasted nearly 45 minutes before he came inside her the third time.

They lay exhausted on her gigantic bed, hearts racing, chests heaving. Elise raised herself on an elbow and stroked his cheek with a gentle hand. His hard callused hand rubbed her arm gently from shoulder to wrist. Her skin was soft.

"Why didn't you tell me you were rich?" he asked, looking into her eyes.

She sighed. She'd known this moment would come but hadn't expected it so soon.

"How exactly does that sort of thing come up in normal conversation?" she asked him.

"Hi, my name's Elise and I'm rich," she said, holding out a tiny hand.

They laughed together at the ridiculousness of it.

"Okay, okay, I get it," he said, still chuckling. "So, you have a lot of money then."

She nodded solemnly, wondering if that would be the reason he'd not stick around. Wouldn't that be something? Was he the kind of person who'd break up before even getting started just because she had money? What a stupid way for things to go.

"Okay then," he said. "I guess I should've expected it. After all, you own your own business and drive a nice car."

"I'm sorry if I sounded like a jerk, I was just surprised is all," he said with a smile and hugged her tight to him.

She sighed in relief.

"I really did want to tell you but I just didn't know how to bring it up," she said earnestly. "I assumed you'd figure it out when you saw my house. That's why I asked you to come here today."

She told him about her business, about how she'd invested wisely over the years, wisely enough to live comfortably from the returns alone. She'd started college funds for all her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Javi listened but didn't know what to say once she'd finished. His finger traced figures on her plump shoulder and his breath ruffled her white hair.

"Are you upset that I'm well off or something?" she asked tensing.

"Of course I'm not," he said, offended. "I just don't know what to say. I mean, what can I possibly say?"

They hugged each other tight and the tension left the room.

"I guess having a rich girlfriend is more of a good thing isn't it?" he said. "To be honest, I don't care if you're filthy rich or living in a cardboard box under a bridge, I'll take you either way."

She laughed delightedly, all stress and anxiety forgotten. The kind of music Javi loved to hear.

They showered together and spent the rest of the day talking then Elise made him dinner. After they ate, she modeled her new clothes for him and then they made love one more time. As they lay basking in post-coital bliss, Elise brought up the Memorial Day cookout and asked him to go as her friend and not her boyfriend.

"Why don't you want them to know we're dating?" he asked.

"I'm not sure they'll approve and my eldest daughter can be pretty judgmental," she said. "Besides, maybe I'll tell them before we leave. We'll see how things turn out."

She looked at him questioningly.

"I thought you'd be upset," she said.

"Nah, family's important and you know better than I do how to handle yours," he said, hugging her tightly to him and kissing her forehead.

They cleaned themselves up and he left reluctantly. He had to work the next day and couldn't spend the night.

They saw each other every day after that, spending nearly every waking moment together. He did spend several nights at her place and even ended up buying a toothbrush and keeping a few things at her place.

After her new bras were delivered, she put on a private fashion show just for him. He sat on the couch, on the same spot as Cindy, and squirmed, nursing an enormous boner. Before long, she was straddling him on the couch, dangling her huge bouncing breasts in his face and thrusting herself onto him until they came together in a shower of internal fireworks.

They went to the movies, ate together, and hung out mostly at her house together. They endured women's disapproving glares, judgmental whispering and open condemnation, mostly towards Elise. They assumed she'd ensnared the good-looking young guy somehow or maybe he was a male prostitute she'd bought. They didn't know but they hated her regardless.

Javi introduced her to his Marine buddies who really seemed to like her. They ragged on him about her age, but called him a lucky bastard afterwards and of course commented on her huge boobs. They didn't seem to care about the age difference.

She didn't interfere with his volleyball practice or games and regularly went to watch him.

As their relationship progressed over the next two weeks, Elise found she enjoyed being submissive to him. He dominated her in the bedroom and that passive compliance, that knowledge that she was subservient in bed to a 19-year-old aroused and thrilled her.

Elise was a confident, self-made, wealthy woman who'd earned her success in a man's world through hard work, willpower and confidence. She truly enjoyed surrendering all power, all decision-making when they were tussling together in bed. She surrendered herself fully to his strength, his male magnetism and his passionate desire for her.

Out of bed, however, he refused she be submissive to him. He wanted an equal partnership, a relationship with a woman who could stand on her own two feet next to him, not meek and passive. Yet another reason she loved him.

She wondered how he'd achieved such a level of maturity at such a tender age, how he hadn't been snatched up by any number of women out there in the world, how lucky she was to be the one he picked.

When they were out and about together, it was amazing how many women flirted and hit on him openly, ignoring her and treating her as if she didn't exist. He was always polite though and when he brushed them off, usually left them upset at him rather than at her.

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Memorial Day was on Monday but her family celebrated it the day before. It gave everyone time to recover from a hangover when they inevitably drank too much and was also a day to unwind and go shopping.

They day before the party, Javi asked Elise if he could bring a few things. In his last command, he and his buddies always did something special to honor the fallen.

She knew the holiday was meant to honor those who died in service to the country but even though her father had served in WWII, she and her family never knew anyone who died in war so the day was more of an abstract. They treated it more like Veteran's Day.

He and his friends had worn their uniforms even though it was a day off and set up a table and a chair in the barracks. They covered it with a black table cloth and put a plate and a beer mug on it. The chair was pulled back and half turned as if waiting for someone to sit in it.

On the area opposite the plate, they put a rubber training rifle with a real bayonet snapped on muzzle down and thrust through the table so it stood upright between a pair of combat boots. They placed an old Kevlar helmet on the rifle's butt and slung a chain threaded through with dog tags engraved with their fallen friends' names and hung it on the fake weapon's grip.

He'd lost more than one friend in Iraq and this was the one day he didn't repress their memory or the way they died.

This was the first year he was alone and not surrounded by the men who'd eaten the same dirt, felt the same fear and bled, sweated and fought side by side with him. He was glad Elise invited him to this party, glad he'd be with her.

Elise and Javi arrived in her car. He wore the uniform he'd worn the day she'd met him. He had the table with a hole on its surface, a foldout chair and a large bag with the rest of the items along with a change of clothes, a plastic hanger for his uniform, a volleyball and a cheap net he could erect if their yard was large enough.

The house was a 15-minute drive from hers. It was nearly as large and airy as hers but he could tell a family lived in it. The street was clogged with parked cars. They finally found an open spot more than a block away. Javi took everything out of the car and refused the let her help him carry it, so when she opened the door to walk into the house all she had in her hands was a small bag with a few necessities she usually carried with her.

Javi stepped inside the cool house and set down his stuff against the wall next to the door. The place was bustling with people of all ages. Small children in bathing suits chased each other screaming and giggling, preteens sat on the floor in the living room playing a game of some sort, teenagers stared down at their phones, sliding fingers on screens, and adults stood and sat around laughing, drinking and chatting loudly.

He looked around anxiously, uncomfortable and unnerved by the noise and large number of people. He saw a large swimming pool behind the house through a glass sliding door and more people sitting and standing around talking.

He was even more unnerved when the place went nearly completely quiet as he stood at the door.

Every eye was on him. He stood stock still. He felt his heart hammer in his chest, his hands got sweaty and a flush slowly rose in his face.

"Hi everyone, this is my friend Javi," Elise declared, too loud in the sudden silence.

Her family stared at the tall guy in uniform their matriarch had brought to the family gathering. He wasn't the only non-family person there but he was the only one in uniform. After staring at him in surprise and curiosity for a few seconds they waved at him in welcome and the droning sound of their conversations returned.

Rubbing his sweaty hands on his trousers he looked at Elise for a signal of some kind. He wasn't sure what to do next.

One of the strangers looked at Elise, waiting for an explanation of some sort and she explained how he worked in the office building next to hers.

"He's a Marine and we should all make him feel welcome," Elise said over the chattering hubbub.

A beautiful blonde girl about the same age as he, stepped up to greet him.

She looked from Elise to him and introduced herself as Elise's granddaughter Cindy.

Javi couldn't help but notice the similarities between her and Elise. For one, she had the same vivid blue eyes as her grandmother and very similar features, slimmer, sharper and much younger but similar. Her voice was also similar to Elise's low contralto.

Elise took his arm and pulled him through the house until they stood in the kitchen where another blonde woman worked intently, preparing food laid out food on the kitchen counters. She looked harried and anxious. She wore a stained apron over a flowery summer dress.

Javi immediately saw the similarities between her, Elise and Cindy. This had to be Elise's eldest daughter Madison, Cindy's mom. She was middle aged, thicker than Elise, busty but not nearly as much as her mother.

The blonde woman gasped when she saw him. He was strikingly good-looking and looked even better in his tailored uniform.

She stood gaping at him in shocked surprise and admiration while her daughter prodded her and told her to stop being rude.

She finally snapped her mouth shut and smiled nervously at him.

"You're very welcome in our home, young man," Madison said with renewed confidence once she glanced around at the ton of things she still had left to do.

A teenage boy stood behind her, eyes glowing in hero worship, he studied the colorful rows of ribbons centered over his left breast pocket. When he'd torn his eyes away from his phone, he'd seen the Marine and been instantly intrigued.

"What do all those mean?" he asked excitedly, pointing at Javi's ribbon rack.

"Give him a chance to get settled before you start drilling him," said a man in his early 30s, shooing the kid away.

Elise led Javi to the place where he could set up his table.

He carried his things to the spot, the boy once again at his elbow asking him an endless series of questions.

The house went quiet and everyone listened as he explained what it all meant. He told the boy how the Battle Cross, the upright rifle, boots, helmet and dog tags were a monument to someone who'd been killed in battle. The place setting and beer mug symbolized a place of honor for those who'd made the ultimate sacrifice in service of their country.

To Javi, this day was much more than a day to cook burgers and drink beer. He guessed many Americans took the day for granted, glad for a long weekend, but he and his buddies had watched friends die. He didn't think it a bad thing to explain what the day meant to him.

He took the plate to the kitchen and asked Madison to put a little of everything on it, grabbed a couple of beers from a cooler and went back to his little table. He put the food down, popped off the cap, poured the beer in the mug and set the nearly empty bottle next to it. The room was quiet again, watching.

He stood back and checked his handiwork, disconcertingly aware of the roomful of eyes still on him. He twisted the top off the beer in his hand and raised it at the small black table.

He stood at the position of attention, heels together, feet at a 45 degree angle, back straight, thumb along the trouser seams staring into his memories for a quiet moment.

Raising his beer, he whispered something and then took a swig.

"Thanks for letting me set up my table," he said, looking around at the quiet attentive faces.

Elise stood beside and behind him the entire time and had tipped back her glass of wine for a drink when he did.

Elise and Cindy stood watching him, their brilliant blue eyes glued to his broad back.

Cindy looked at her grandma.

"God, grandma, can I have him?" she whispered breathlessly.

Elise laughed, put a hand on his elbow to get his attention and motioned him to follow her, leading him to the 30-something guy who'd tried to shoo the boy with the unending questions away.

"Javi, this is my grandson, Will," she said.

"Will, could you walk him around and introduce everyone to him, please?" she asked and not waiting for an answer, took Cindy's hand and dragged her to the kitchen. The girl stumbled behind her, not taking her shining blue eyes from Javi for one second.

Once in the kitchen, Elise watched as Will led Javi to a group of guys in the living room and turned to her daughter and granddaughter who looked at her curiously. She was acting strange. As a matter of fact, she'd been acting strange for a few months.

Taking a deep breath, Elise quietly told them all about him and about how they met. She left nothing out, though she did skim over their sexual relationship. Her sex life was none of their business.

As she talked, the two women gazed at the good-looking military guy and then back at her in astonishment and not a little envy. Had he not been there in the flesh, they would've never believed her. As it was, they kept repeating "really?" over and over as she talked.

"Yes, REALLY," Elise kept responding.

"I know it's hard to believe, but it's true so can you stop that please," she finally demanded.

Then the expected flood of questions came.

"Are you dating him then?"

"He has an accent. Where's he from?"

"How old is he?"

"What's he like in bed?" Cindy asked excitedly.

"Cindy!" her mother exclaimed, scandalized, but turned red-faced to stare at her elderly mother.

"That's none of your business girls," she said smugly.

She paused a few seconds and her face flushed redder than her daughter's when she answered some of their questions.

"He's 19, yes, were officially dating, he's from Mexico and no, Cindy, you can't have him," she said, hardly able to meet their eyes.

The mother and daughter stood looking from Elise to the ramrod straight young man, picturing them together. All three women were bright red, Elise with pride when she glanced at Javi, Madison and Cindy with embarrassment and curiosity.